Putting on Francis Ngannou fights is the only way for PFL to punch it's ticket to super-stardom, claims Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan seems to see lineal MMA heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou as the sole means for PFL to ramp up their profile in the sport. This was discussed on the Joe Rogan Experience.
In a transcription courtesy of MMA Fighting from the JRE episode, Rogan said,
"If the UFC went away, the PFL would probably take up the slack. If something happened, the UFC decided, 'you know what, we've found Jesus. No more fights. Good luck. Take care. We're gonna close shop.' For some crazy reason. Those guys would go somewhere. Everyone has a name."
"Right now, the only way an organization could benefit - like PFL signed Francis [Ngannou]. That's probably the only way that PFL's gonna get people to pay attention. You have to have someone like Francis."
Check out Rogan's thoughts on how PFL could benefit from Ngannou below:
Ngannou has not been active in mixed martial arts since defending his UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane in January 2022.
'The Predator' has since left the company to sign with PFL but has been competitively active in boxing and also readies to head up the launch of PFL Africa for 2025.
Francis Ngannou has fought generational heavyweight talents in Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua with many thinking he bested Fury before a KO loss to Joshua.
Renan Ferreira is the PFL heavyweight tournament champion from last season and seems to be the primary MMA test for Ngannou should he return to the sport. This follows Ferreira halting Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader with strikes in short order earlier this year.
Joe Rogan and his thoughts on Renan Ferreira
Joe Rogan spoke about Ngannou's as-of-yet unbooked PFL debut and touched on his likely first opponent, Ferreira. 'La Problema' is someone Rogan also discussed on this same JRE installment, even though the UFC commentator seems to see Francis Ngannou's immediate future donning the big gloves once again in the sweet science.
Joe Rogan touched on the hulking PFL standout when he said,
"There's this wild Brazilian dude over there [Renan Ferreira in PFL] who's f*cking dangerous. That guy's f*cking dangerous. He's huge and he can strike. That's the only guy [Ngannou could fight].
"Maybe if the PFL gets some heat behind it because of this, maybe if they have the money, I know there are some other countries that are involved like the Saudis, and they start throwing money away. Maybe. Yeah [Ngannou will resume boxing]. He's made so much money, but after the [Anthony] Joshua fight, it's going to be different."